Legacy Finals - Bobloblaw vs JimiCliff

[JimiCliff]

Jimi plans to "hide" terrible defender Pistol on him.

And you'd have to hide Mullin (or Roy or Tiny, lol) on near-GOAT scorer Pistol. I win that.

Besides Pistol, Jimi has no creators on bench.

Don't need another. At least one of Durant/Lebron/Frazier will always be on the floor.

Kobe and Penny will draw fouls, Jimi's playmaking and depth will become a problem.

Frazier/Dumars/Lebron are all-time great defenders. They'll be fine.

[Axel]

The Action!!

[BobLoblaw]

Pistol will be used sparingly, if at all. And he could easily be hidden on Mullin.

Jones is an excellent two-way player, perfect in this scenario.

Archibald/Roy/Mullin will HAVE to defend at some point - and they can't. Tilts a tight matchup like this my way.

Mullin was superstar. Jimi plans to "hide" terrible defender Pistol on him. Good for us.

Besides Pistol, Jimi has no creators on bench. Guard depth is just Eddie Jones who was known for big moment choking.

Kobe and Penny will draw fouls, Jimi's playmaking and depth will become a problem.

[JimiCliff]

We have the bigger team. 3 inch advantage at PG, 3 inches at SG.

I have 3 inches at SF. When Lebron guards Kobe, I have size there.

McHale will be, at best, a cog - more likely an afterthought. Kobe will try and win this alone. Remember 6-24.

The starters are pretty even. Benches are key. 4/5 of Loblaw's bench players are one-dimensional.

[BobLoblaw]

We have the bigger team. McHale can't be guarded here. 26 ppg on .655 TS% in his peak.

3 inch advantage at PG, 3 inches at SG. Robinson a superior athlete.

We don't need McHale to "carry" our offense, he's a cog in machine, but he'll cause big problems.

[JimiCliff]

Yet the worst defensive player on both benches is the Pistol, by far.

My bench has better basketball players and it doesn't play all together in a unit. Would any real life team play Pistol (sells tickets, but no D, no shot selection) or Eddie Jones over Mullin or Roy?

Pistol will be used sparingly, if at all. And he could easily be hidden on Mullin.

Jones is an excellent two-way player, perfect in this scenario.

Archibald/Roy/Mullin will HAVE to defend at some point - and they can't. Tilts a tight matchup like this my way.

[DanH]

Yeah, I want to see some back and forth here, strategy will be crucial.

[planetmars]

Going to be a good matchup. Need some time to think about it.

[BobLoblaw]

Yet the worst defensive player on both benches is the Pistol, by far.

My bench has better basketball players and it doesn't play all together in a unit. Would any real life team play Pistol (sells tickets, but no D, no shot selection) or Eddie Jones over Mullin or Roy?

[Axel]

This is a great finals match. Two awesome teams.

Yup, clearly the 2nd and 3rd best teams from the tournament (I joke). The only two teams that beat me face off, so I have fairly good knowledge of both the strengths and weaknesses of each team. It's a very good match up. I agree with (and wish I highlighted more) what Jimi says about Bob having no perimeter defenders on his bench. Very top heavy defence.

Not sure how I feel about McHale vs LeBron. LeBron is a great defender but hasn't had to really defend many traditional low post scorers, so hard to say how he'd do against such an accomplished low post threat as McHale. That said, hard to envision McHale carrying the offence.

Looking forward to a good battle.

[TrueTorontoFan]

good morning! and Good luck!

[DanH]

This is a great finals match. Two awesome teams.

[JimiCliff]

To close out the game, we'll explore playing big and switching Lebron onto Kobe. A locked in Lebron would be a nightmare for Bryant (but he'll still try and win this on his own). And it creates a mismatch on offence - Kobe's too small for either Lebron or Durant.

[Axel]

The legacy league was created to pit teams drafted by fellow RR members against each other and allow the general RR populous to vote on who would win this winner take all, single elimination game if all players were at their peak performance.

Each team drafted a 10 man roster. Each team provided a gameplan justification as to why they believe they should get your vote. Each team is allowed 1 post for "in game adjustments." The role of RR community is simple, vote for who you believe should win. Post justification if you want (encouraged) and weigh the pros and cons for all to see, but ultimately, your vote decides who will win this tournament of legends.

Bobloblaw vs JimiCliff

Bobloblaw STARTING LINEUP

g Penny Hardaway; 1995 NBA finals: 25.5pt, 8ast, 5rb, .500 FG%, .458 3P%
g Kobe Bryant
f Kawhi Leonard
f Kevin McHale, 6 time all defense, the only player in history to average 25+ points on .600+ FG%
c David Robinson, DPOY, MVP

Reserves

6th man: Nate tiny Archibald, the only player in history to lead the league in scoring and assists in the same season
g Brandon Roy
g/f Chris Mullin
stretch big: Bob McAdoo, MVP 1975
D big: Dikembe Mutombo, 4 time DPOY


Defense:

We're starting 4 All-defense players, and the shortest starter is Kobe at 6'6. We'll chase them off 3pt line, contest shots. Kawhi on LeBron.

Long armed, tall, athletic, defensive team. One of the greatest defensive anchors, Robinson = maybe the quickest, most athletic center ever.

McHale helps with freak wingspan and versatility, he used to guard 3 positions.


Offense:

If Jimi plays small, attack them with size.

McHale was one of the filthiest post players ever. Great skillset, very high release. Whichever Jimi's small forward guards him, will be in a torture chamber.

Robinson compliments him as pick and roll super athlete, screen setter, versatile scorer with 30 ppg in his prime.

Triangle-ish system. We have 3 huge perimeter players who can all post up, rotate positions, shoot, pass. Both big men can hit midrange and play in the post.

A lot of Penny pick and roll as well.

JimiCliff Lineup

PG - Walt 'Clyde' Frazier 23.2 ppg, 51.2 fg% (1972). 7x 1st Team All-Defence.

SG - Joe Dumars. 23.5 ppg (1993), 38.2 3pt% (career). 4x 1st Team All-Defence.

SF - Kevin Durant. 32.0 ppg, 39.1 3pt%, NBA MVP (2014).

PF - Lebron James. 26.8 ppg, 40.6 3pt%, NBA MVP, Finals MVP (2013). 5x 1st Team All-Defence.

C - Patrick Ewing. 28.6 ppg, 10.9 rebs, 4.0 bpg, 1st Team All-NBA (1990). 3x Second Team All-Defence.

Bench:

'Pistol' Pete Maravich, 31.1 ppg, NBA scoring champ (1977).

3 & D (& scoring too) - Eddie Jones, SG/SF. 20.1 ppg, 37.5 3pt%, 2.7 spg (2000). 3x Second Team All-Defence.

Big C Alonzo Mourning, PF/C. 20.1 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 3.9 bpg (1999). 2x NBA Defensive Player of the Year.

Stretch Big - Cliff Robinson, F/C. 21.3 ppg, 37.1 3pt% (1995). 2x Second Team All-Defence.

Insurance Big - Elton Brand, PF/C. 24.7ppg, 10.0 rpg, 2.5bpg, NBA Sportsmanship Award (2006).

JimiCliff gameplan

So...

PG: Frazier - an incredible defender, and an excellent scorer - is a perfect matchup for Penny.

SG: MJ called Dumars the toughest defender he'd faced. So, we're glad to have him for Kobe. And his shooting spreads the floor.

SF: Durant can easily handle Kawhi on D, and will make him work his butt off on O.

C: Prime Ewing matches Robinson's size and athleticism.

And the key matchup...

PF: Lebron can shut down McHale on D, and on offence is just too much for him to handle.

Benches: Loblaw's wing bench is brutal defensively. This will be key - there'll be mismatches on D, against my starters or my bench (Jones was a very good scorer, Pistol Pete one of the best).

Mutombo has to respect Zo's jumper, which drags him out of the paint.

...

We will goad Kobe into trying to win this on his own.

In Game Adjustments - Coming Soon!

So RR faithful, who wins this game?